Scoring 39 points in the first half of the 2015 Formula 1 season, Force India lie 5th in the constructors’ championship going into the summer break, ahead of Lotus and behind Red Bull by a huge margin. Force India as similar as last year performed well in the first half of 2014 picking up a podium at the Bahrain Grand Prix and then fell back to rivals McLaren, but this season they have performed well in the first half of the season and after their B-spec challenger arriving at Silverstone they will be hopeful that they can have a much better second half to the season as they did last year.
After a positive 2014 season the Silverstone-based outfit opted to stick with 2014 drivers Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez, Force India was behind on its 2015 challenger due to changing it’s wind tunnel facilities to Toyota’s based in Cologne which is regarded as one of the best wind tunnel’s in Europe. Another reason why they were behind on their 2016 challenger was due to suppliers. They used the “14 challenger until the 2015 season started and then they brought out the VJM08 ahead of the Australian Grand Prix.
The Australian Grand Prix was a positive start to the new season for Force India finishing in 7th and 10th place due to neither Manor cars racing and others not managing to either make the grid or finish the Grand Prix. Next time out in Malaysia was less successful for the Indian team, where they finished 14th and 13th respectively. There were mixed reactions from the team next time out were mixed as Sergio Perez finished in the points with an 8th place but team-mate Nico Hulkenberg finished 13th.
Spain was another frustrating race for the team where once again they finished out of the points with 15th and 13th. Monaco provided Sergio Perez with his best performance in 2015 to date after he finished in an impressive 7th place. Things weren’t going so well for Nico Hulkenberg though who failed to reach the top 10 finishing just out of the points with an 11th place.
Canada was once again a mixed race for the team in results where they once again for the fourth time they managed to only get one car in the points and that was once again Nico Hulkenberg with an 8th position and Mexican team-mate Sergio Perez finishing in a disappointing 11th place.
The Austrian Grand Prix was a much better race for the team, they managed to get both cars in the points with Nico Hulkenberg’s best result to date with a 6th place whilst Sergio Perez picked up two points in 9th place. Next time out was the debut of the B-Spec challenger which was delayed many times, but after being tested in the In-Season test the week after Austria, the team was happy with it’s performance, and in mixed conditions British Grand Prix Nico Hulkenberg made an impressive start and carried that over to a 7th place finish whilst Perez finished in 9th.
The team were hopeful that the Hungaroring would suit its B-spec challenger more than it did Silverstone but both drivers failed to reach the chequered flag after Nico Hulkenberg having a front wing failure on the start straight line causing him to crash into the barriers at turn 1 and Sergio Perez suffered brake problems in the race and later retired on as a result.
As it stands the qualifying battle is in favour of Hulkenberg who has out-qualified fellow team-mate Sergio Perez 8 out of the 10 times. Race battles between the pair are fairly equal with both drivers having beat each other 4 times a piece. Nico Hulkenberg has spent 359 laps ahead of his team-mate whilst Perez has only spent 192 laps ahead of him.
Nico Hulkenberg: 24 points – 9th in the Drivers’ Championship
Nico Hulkenberg has had a good season so far with the VJM08 suiting his driving style, especially with the B-spec car as he could finally show his true performance to the team. It’s fair to say that Hulkenberg would want to retain his seat for next year but with the rumours that he could be set for a Williams drive in 2016 – Force India need to prove to him that they can perform and then retain him for next season.
Sergio Perez: 15 points – 13th in the Drivers’ Championship
It’s fair to say Sergio Perez has had an up and down season so far, he’s been hit with reliability issues and hasn’t got his driving style to use like his team-mate has, but he has had some good racing with his team-mate and proving he can challenge him even though he may struggle sometimes. He announced a few weeks ago that he’s not sure where he’ll be next year but it is most likely that he’ll retain his seat at Force India next season.
Both drivers will be hopeful of a strong second half of the season with the first half bringing them success, currently standing 5th in the Constructors Championship.
Images courtesy of Sahara Force India
